No criminality can be attributed to Umar Khalid, his counsel tells Delhi court

The counsel for former JNU student Umar Khalid told a Delhi court on Tuesday that no criminality could be attributed to his client.

The submissions were made before Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai during arguments opposing the framing of charges against Khalid in the UAPA case related to the alleged conspiracy behind the February 2020 riots in Delhi.

Senior advocate Trideep Pais, appearing for Khalid, argued, “In any event, no criminality can be attributed, because unless you show that there is actual criminality in the actions.”

Referring to the charges levelled against Khalid for being a member of a WhatsApp group, Pais said Khalid was just a member of the group and never sent any messages.

“What is the criminality of belonging to the group,” he asked.

Pais said one of the protected witnesses, Bond, had admitted to having sent a message on a WhatsApp group calling for a chakka jam.

“So let us decide whether the witness is against the chakka jam or for it. Bond is clearly an interested witness and cannot be believed. The statement of this witness was also recorded one month prior to my arrest,” Pais said.

He said that Delhi Police, in its charge sheet, accused Khalid and others of conspiring to protest and participate in the riots to discredit India during US President Donald Trump’s visit to New Delhi in 2020.

The senior advocate claimed that Trump’s official visit to India was first reported on February 13, 2020, but the FIR was premised on the fact that on February 8, the conspirators already knew his date of arrival and conducted the violence on February 24-25.

Citing his client’s call detail records (CDRs), Pais said police named Khalid as a main conspirator in the case, but he was not present in a meeting on December 8, 2019, in Jangpura, where the alleged conspiracy regarding the 2020 Delhi riots was hatched.

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He also cited the statement of another protected witness, Delta, who had informed the police that a secret meeting was held at a secret office regarding the whole conspiracy.

“The charge sheet says a secret meeting in a secret office was held. This informant was in constant touch with the police, but how come he did not inform the police about the violence? If he informed, so why didn’t the police stop it,” Pais asked.

Regarding the allegation that Khalid was about to leave New Delhi after the violence, Pais said for a person who was actively participating in a protest against the CAA, it was normal to travel.

The arguments would continue on Wednesday.

Earlier on Monday, the Supreme Court refused to give two weeks to Delhi Police for filing its reply on bail pleas of activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima and Meeran Haider in the larger conspiracy case.

Last month, Khalid’s lawyer said his client spent five years in custody in what he called a “joke of an FIR”, which did not have the “sanctity of law”.

Khalid was arrested in the case on September 13, 2020. Twenty people, including activists Imam, Khalid Saifi and former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain, were booked for their alleged involvement in the larger conspiracy to incite the riots.